Progress report: MPA Improvement Programme

Report: 9
Date: 1 February 2007
By: Chief Executive and Clerk

Summary

This report presents an update on the Metropolitan Police Authority’s improvement programme. It outlines general progress, issues and risks in the following key areas: actions against the overall programme plan, work stream progress, relations with staff, HR monitoring and communications.

A. Recommendations

That members note the following:

• The eight aims and objectives of the Improvement Programme
• The MPA Values and Behaviour Model
• The new MPA organisation structure
• Progress against the programme plan
• Issues and Risks

B. Supporting information

Improvement Programme Aims and Objectives

1. The MPA Improvement Programme has its roots in the Performance Assessment of the MPA as part of the GLA family, carried out by the Audit Commission, and the need to review the way the organisation is structured and works, given the maturing role of the Authority itself.

2. There are eight key aims and objectives of the improvement programme.

• Improving our leadership and management capabilities through the development of a management development programme for MPA Members / Staff and a staff survey.
• Embedding a culture of business planning and performance management across the MPA to change the way we work (how we plan, prioritise and deliver) linked in with the personal development of staff.
• Creation of a new Unit (Partnership and Engagement Unit) to provide focus and a One Stop Shop for our borough facing work.
• Establishment of a Corporate Secretariat to draw together all secretariat and support services, with a view to enhancing effectiveness and efficiency.
• A unified Treasury bringing together the finance based roles within the organisation and to improve scrutiny of MPS IS/IT, estates and procurement.
• Establishment of a new MPA directorate of Policy, Planning, Performance, Scrutiny and Race and Diversity, which recognises the central importance of the MPA’s “scrutiny” role of the MPS.
• Development of closer working relationships and collaborative partnerships between units.
• Develop corporate support services to identify those essential services to help MPA effectiveness.

3. The improvement programme is steered by a Programme Board, which meets twice a month and is made up of the senior management team (SMT), Rachel Whittaker and a trade union representative. It is project managed by the Interim Head of Human Resources and Change Management. This Board also has the responsibility for overseeing evaluation of the success of the Programme.

MPA Organisation Structure

4. Taking into account the MPA Statement of Purpose and Corporate Strategy, the different functions needed to contribute to achieving MPA’s purpose/role have been identified through a staff task group. The SMT has identified the resources to be realigned to ensure focus on corporate priorities and determined how these functions should be structured and managed. A high level organisation structure has now been agreed.

Progress against programme plan

5. The change management methodology adopted is one of incremental change over a fixed period of time. In most areas, the go live date has been set as 2 April 2007.

MPA Values and Behaviour

6. A values and behaviour model based on the work of a staff task group, has been established and a development programme to reinforce the values and behaviours is now being introduced. A Staff Survey will also provide useful comments and feedback from staff on how they feel they are managed and the quality of MPA’s leadership and management. All managers will be formally assessed against the Values and Behaviour model and appropriate measures to address development needs will be put in place. This will be informed by the outcome of the online staff survey which is being designed and delivered internally, and will be completed by the end of February latest.

Partnership and Engagement Unit

7. This newly established unit provisionally called the Partnership and Engagement Unit brings together the existing Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership Team, part of the Community Engagement Team (dealing with local community engagement), the Independent Custody Visitors team, and the borough facing activities of the Race & Diversity Unit (race hate crime and stop and search).

8. The mission of the Unit will be to support members in their link borough responsibilities, ensure that all ‘local’ functions of the MPA are carried out effectively, that the MPA is seen and heard in a consistent and coherent way at borough level and that MPA relationships with key stakeholders at local level are well managed.

9. The Unit will represent the MPA at local level in partnership and community engagement activity, provide a ‘One Stop Shop’ service for link members and key stakeholders, provide an open channel of communication back to the MPA systematically reporting back on local concerns and issues to influence strategic policy development, and to assist the members in holding the Met to account.

10. The process for appointment of the Head of Partnerships and Engagement Unit will be started in the near future.

The Policy, Planning and Performance Unit

11. This unit brings together the following teams: Race and Diversity Unit (other than the functions that will go to the Partnerships and Engagement Unit)) Scrutiny and Review, Policy and Performance, Human Resources Policy Officer and the functions of the Community Engagement Team concerned with the Community Engagement Strategy and pan-London consultation and engagement programmes.

12. The unit will be led and managed by a new post of Assistant Chief Executive. While the recruitment process for a permanent post-holder takes place, an interim Assistant Chief Executive, Siobhan Coldwell, has been appointed to the post following a selection process that included internal and external candidates.

Unified Treasury Unit

13. A unified Treasury will bring together the finance based roles within the organisation and is to be strengthened to reinforce members’ capacity to scrutinise MPS IS/IT, estates and procurement.

14. A formal period of consultation has begun with those members of staff most affected including drafting new terms of reference for the unit, new job descriptions, job matching training needs analysis, induction and review of financial management processes.

Corporate Secretariat

15. The new unit brings together Committee Liaison and Members Services, internal human resources, internal ISIT, and Administration / Facilities Management. It is also proposed to look at creating a corporate administrative / support resource to meet the needs of the whole organisation in the most efficient way. A Head of Corporate Secretariat will be appointed to lead the new unit.

16. All of these units have some elements in common in supporting the MPA’s infrastructure, internal communications and joint working. A Corporate Secretariat will offer the scope for identifying the synergies between these activities. It is also considered that some of the more ‘outward facing’ roles in CLAMS, particularly in the Committee Services and Liaison functions can be developed to strengthen key aspects of the MPA’s corporate governance framework.

Closer working relationships and collaborative working within and across units

17. A corporate and unit team coaching/building programme is being developed to embed collaborative working and new ways of working. The programme will focus on getting new teams to work effectively and facilitate cross cutting work between units.

Staff relations

18. A protocol for managing organisational change is under negotiation with representatives from Public and Commercial Services Union.

19. The purpose of the protocol is to ensure consistency of approach. The MPA improvement programme is an organisation wide development programme aimed at changing culture by improving the way the Authority works internally and the way it works with others. In order to achieve this the Authority will need to realign its organisational structure and transform working practices.

20. Such significant change can only be delivered through a structured implementation programme and in a timely manner. Some changes may result in uncertainty and anxiety for members of staff. The MPA needs to balance the need to move ahead quickly, subject to appropriate consultation, with the need to continue the delivery of its core functions.

21. The purpose of this protocol is to facilitate change and to mitigate the impact of that change on staff. It builds on existing good practice and experience of handling organisational change in other organisations.

22. All staff have been formally notified of the proposed changes to the organisation, their unit and role. A three-month consultation timetable has been set up to facilitate regular 1:1 consultation with those members of staff most directly affected by structural change, which should allow the changes to become effective for 2 April 2007.

23. One grievance has been lodged in relation to the Improvement Programme.

24. A staff support programme is being developed comprising of internal and external support. This is underpinned by personal transition plans for each member of staff and there is provision for further counselling.

Communications update

25. A communications strategy and action plan is in place. There have been four Improvement Programme newsletters so far.

26. The Chief Executive and Clerk has written to Members outlining key internal changes. She will continue to update members, as well as reporting to the Business Management Group chaired by Reshard Auladin, and the Chairs’ Group.

Issues and Risks

Staff Morale

27. The majority of staff acknowledge and accept that the MPA must transform the way it works and the way it works with others if it is to meet its corporate objectives. Some people, particularly some of those impacted by the structure are less positive. This is being addressed as described in paragraphs 18 to 24.

Impact of structural change on accommodation

28. The level of structural change and the subsequent movement of staff between units likely to be further impacted by the lack of office space at Dean Farrar Street. It is going to be very challenging to locate newly integrated teams together. This issue is being proactively managed through the work stream meetings.

C. Race and equality impact

Equality Impact Assessments

A planned programme of work is being developed to assess the impact of the structural change. Equality Impact Assessments will be undertaken prior to the go live date. A full report on progress will be presented to COP at the next meeting.

D. Financial implications

1. The Senior Management Team is taking a ‘zero-based budgeting’ approach to justify and allocate staff and non-staff costs/resources.

2. Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) involves the preparation of operating budgets on the assumption that the organisation is starting out afresh. It is a review of the allocation of resources. ZBB is an approach to budgeting that starts from the premise that no costs or activities should be factored into the plans for the coming budget period, just because they figured in the costs or activities for the current or previous periods. Rather, everything that is to be included in the budget must be considered and justified.

3. The output of the ZBB exercise will be subject to a further report to the Programme Board and later to COP.

4. The projected costs of the improvement programme have been identified and are being finalised. The changes must be achieved within the budget, and provision has been made in the draft 2007 / 8 budget for transition costs.

5. A number of cashable savings have also been identified as a result of the ZBB exercise.

6. The costs will be finalised and presented to a future COP meeting.

E. Background papers

• Improvement Programme Communications Strategy and Action Plan

F. Contact details

Report author: Nicholas Toko, Interim Head of HR and Improvement Programme Change Manager.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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